Moving On
by Dragon KeyboardFreak
Summary: Hibiki Laytis still hasn't moved on after Karen's death. But could a talk with a visiting mage change things? Slight HibikixOC if you look really hard.


**Um, this just suddenly came to my mind after rereading some Hibiki scenes in the manga. Hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. If I did, Pantherlily would be my "cat" as Gajeel would say.**

_Edit: I added a few bits since I forgot to do so when I wrote it. There isn't much so you probably won't notice._

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It had been four years since Karen Lilica had passed away and Hibiki Laytis had yet to move on. No matter how much he may flirt with other women, none of them were able to get Karen's image out of his mind. He had truly loved her and everyone in his guild knew that. He knew he needed to move on, but how? All of the women he flirted with fell victim to his charms, not including Lucy Heartfilia and Erza Scarlet as they already had guys they loved, even if the two women themselves did not realize it. It was pointless to flirt with them.

"Excuse me?" came a shy voice. He looked up from where he had been drinking at the guild bar, startled. A young woman stood there, looking shy and nervous, as she said, "I'm looking for Master Bob. Is he here?" He gaped at her before realizing she had spoken. He smiled disarmingly and said, "He isn't at the moment as he is at a meeting. But he should be back within an hour or two. Would you like to join me until he returns?" While waiting for her answer, he studied her.

She looked a bit like Lucy Heartfilia, but with some noticeable differences, namely her hair and her clothing. She wore a sleeveless sky blue turtleneck; a pair of black cargo pants with a bright orange belt and two bright orange straps on either pant leg; a pair of black boots; and a pair of upper arm length black half-finger gloves with a red mini-belt at the wrist and at the tops. Her eyes were a green-yellow instead of brown and her hair was a hip-length platinum blonde with twin black streaks framing her face while more six streaks—three on either side—were a dark purple. Her chest was about as big as Lucy's, if not a bit bigger.

Hesitantly, she sat down on his right, revealing the guild mark on her shoulder. It was of Fairy Tail and he saw that it was black that faded into red going outwards. Admittedly, he was surprised. She seemed to be far too timid for a place like that. She noticed and grinned proudly as she said, "My dad was a member before he passed away on a mission. Before he left me and Mom, I told him I would become a Fairy Tail mage, no matter how long it took. But I also didn't wanna leave my mom, so I made sure to find a good house in Magnolia before even thinking about joining."

"Oh? What's your magic?" he asked, curious. He didn't even realize he had stopped flirting with her and was now just talking with her normally. Perhaps there was something about her that allowed him to open up? Talking with him must've been helping her get over her shyness because her grin widened and said, "I got lucky. I'm an offense and defense mage. I use Shield magic and Ghost magic." That second one confused him as he repeated, "Ghost magic?" He had never heard of it.

"Ghost magic is incredibly dangerous. It can only be used by those who have nearly died or who have died. The magic is opposite to that of Celestial Magic, but it does not use keys. Instead, when a user summons a creature from Hell, the user and the creature must make a contract of life; their lives will be bound. If the creature or the user dies, then both shall die. I try not to use it if I can help it. I prefer to protect my friends and family with my shields," she said with a sheepish smile. Well, at least she wasn't as destructive as a majority of the Fairy Tail members were. And he really didn't want to know how she nearly died or if she even did die.

There was a comfortable silence before Hibiki spoke, "Have you ever loved someone, only for them to die before you could tell them?" He was surprised with himself. Why the hell had he asked that? But the girl didn't seem surprised or even fazed by the question as she replied, "Yeah, a guy I knew. He was someone I could definitely date, but… he took a job that was too big for him after his girlfriend dumped him. For the longest time, I really wasn't able to move on until one day I realized something." He stared at her, curious. She smiled at the memory.

"I was visiting his grave, just staring at it, like I usually did when I went to visit him. But that day was different. A cat with wings fell out of the sky, unconscious, and landed right on his grave, badly wounded. I really didn't think about it; I just scooped the cat up and ran home, hoping to save its life. I nursed it back to health—learning that it was male in the process—and when he woke up, he stared at me for a moment before saying that I looked familiar, almost nostalgic, but he didn't know why.

"Right then and there, I remembered one of the most important lessons my father had taught me. Each and every life is reincarnated, no matter the form. Even if people from a past life who were lovers are enemies today, life is still reincarnated. Hell, you and I could have met in a past life and we wouldn't know. Life is precious and we have to treasure it. Even if a person dies, we'll still remember them in our memories and our hearts. But we have to be conscious of the others around us. If we don't take the time to move on, we're hurting others, even if we—and even they—don't realize it. Salt, the cat, made me remember that. As a Ghost mage, I have to accept death, no matter what and I agree with it."

She then blushed and said, "S-sorry, I'm rambling." He smiled, a genuine one, as he said, "No, thank you. You've helped me quite a bit." She looked confused, but said nothing as Master Bob had returned. As she stood to go over to him, Hibiki asked, "What's your name?" She smiled and replied, "Evangeline Stone. But I prefer Evan." He chuckled and said, "It was a pleasure to meet you, Evan. I'm Hibiki Laytis." Grinning, she walked off with a small wave, pulling out a letter as she did.

Hibiki looked down at his glass of whiskey and a small understanding smile crept to his lips. He stood up and quickly left the guild, not seeing the confused and concerned looks of his teammates as he left. He walked all the way to Karen's grave and stood there, staring at it. A light chuckle escaped him before he said, "She was right, Karen. We have to treasure life and accept death. I'm going to move on. I still love you, I'll admit that, but maybe…maybe I can find someone else to love and who will love me back. I'll come visit soon…Karen." With that, he turned and walked away. As he did, the intangible form of Karen Lilica appeared, watching him go with a small smile.

"Good luck, Hibiki. You deserve better than anything I could ever offer. I would suggest that girl, Evan. She'll be perfect for you," the spirit said, glad to see that one of her guild mates was finally moving on. Then she vanished, returning to her eternal rest.

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**Corny ending, but whatever. Hibiki is my third favorite with the first being Pantherlily and the second being Gray. **

**Review please.**


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